the light paintings

More about the piece: 

My father, John Shearer, was a renowned photojournalist who created iconic images for LIFE and LOOK magazine in the 1960s and 70s. He spent his life capturing moments and faces, but in the last year of his life felt a pull to create abstract artwork. He told me he wanted to be known as an “artist.” His final series, The Light Paintings, was a set of abstract images, inspired by Turner paintings.

Since my father’s passing, I have looked for ways to engage creatively with his work. This piece, also titled The Light Paintings, draws on those images. They were his final artistic statement, yet he never had a chance to show them. For that reason, they became a natural starting point for the creative collaboration we didn't get to have while he was alive.

The first movement gets its feel from a picture called Morning Mist; I wanted to create textures that felt like clouds.The second movement gets its name from an image called Island Lady and moves like a dance. The alto saxophone takes a soaring, improvised solo, which arrives at a cacophony of bells. The final movement begins with a somber brass chorale and ends in jubilance: my father has reached the gates of heaven. It is inspired by the last picture he ever made, At Death’s Door.

The saxophone part is a mixture of improvised and notated material, and the player should pull from the existing melodic content and push against it. While this piece is written for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, it is not a true concerto – the player stands with and is surrounded by the orchestra in balanced conversation.

As artists we chase the light, discovering windows into our own experience. The goal is to provide the world with a personal viewpoint. The Light Paintings is by me and by my father and captures his tender perspective on life as he approached his sunset.